Researchers at UNSW Sydney report that PainWaive, an EEG-driven brain-training game, produced meaningful pain reductions in three of four participants in a four-week home trial, the authors said in a paper posted online in the Journal of Pain.

How the system works

PainWaive pairs a tablet game with a custom 3D‑printed EEG headset. The headset uses saline wet electrodes aimed at the sensorimotor cortex to record brain activity in real time. The game responds as users try mental strategies — relaxing, focusing attention or recalling pleasant memories — to shift brain rhythms that prior work has linked to neuropathic pain: more slow theta, fewer alpha, and increased high beta waves.

“The brainwaves of people with neuropathic pain show a distinct pattern: more slow theta waves, fewer alpha waves, and more fast, high beta waves,” Professor Sylvia Gustin said. PainWaive was built to guide those patterns toward a healthier balance, the team said.

Small home trial and results

Four people took part in the first at‑home trial. Each received a headset and tablet, brief Zoom instruction and ongoing remote support. After a few supervised sessions participants ran the treatment independently.

Three of the four participants reported significant reductions in pain intensity and pain-related disruption by the end of the four‑week program. The authors note those improvements were comparable to, or greater than, pain relief typically seen with opioids, but caution that the small sample prevents broad conclusions.

“Restrictions in the study’s size, design and duration limit our ability to generalise the findings or rule out placebo effects,” Dr. Negin Hesam‑Shariati said. “But the results we’ve seen are exciting and give us confidence to move to the next stage and our larger trial.”

The team said reducing headset cost to about $300 and designing the system for at‑home use were priorities to improve access for people who struggle to travel to clinics.

UNSW is now recruiting two larger trials: one for chronic spinal pain and one for neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury, the paper says.

Research findings are available online in the Journal of Pain.

Photo credit: s.yimg.com

Tags: neurofeedback, EEG headset, neuropathic pain, home device

Topics: EEG & neuro-sensing headsets, Biofeedback & neurofeedback, Wearable neurotech